Man jailed after decade of sex abuse of young girls

File photo / NZH

A 42 year old Tauranga man has been jailed for nearly eight years for sexually abusing four Tauranga girls over the course of a decade.

Judge Louis Bidois, in Tauranga District Court today, sentenced Richard Clark, a former Bay of Plenty Times IT manager, to a total of seven years and 10 months imprisonment on 41 sexual offences to which he pleaded guilty last November.

The judge ordered him to serve a minimum non-parole period of three years and 10 months.

"What seems to me is that you placed yourself in a position which enabled this offending to occur," Judge Bidois told Clark.

"They thought you were a nice person. Probably because you were buying them gifts."

Judge Bidois told the court that to a degree, Clark groomed the young girls and the sexual offending was premeditated.

The offending took place over a 10 year period from 2001 against girls aged between nine and 15.

When Clark was eventually arrested, it was revealed one of the young girls had been abused for one quarter of her life.

"You were a mature male adult. These were young children who were powerless."

Defence lawyer Rachel Adams told Judge Bidois that her client accepted his actions were wrong and caused significant trauma to his victims.

But she asked that Clark's guilty plea, sincere remorse and potential for rehabilitation be considered in sentencing.

The Crown asked for a sentence of between 13 and 16 years, saying the victims suffered continuing psychological and emotional trauma.

Judge Bidois started sentencing at 13 years imprisonment but deducted time for the mitigating factors, which he believed were strong.

- NZPA